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The Washington Off ice of the Secretar y of State’s blog , From Our Corner, prov ides from-the-source information about impor tant state news and public ser v ices.

Using new media tools, l ike our blog , we can interact w ith public – instead of just talking at them. This space acts as a br idge bet ween the public and Secretar y Sam Reed and his staf f , and it i s a place for people to contr ibute to the conversation – they can leave comments and discuss what is impor tant to them.

The blog prov ides a t wo-way street bet ween government and the people. That ’s why we have elements to make the public feel included and we encourage them to share.

Take From Your Corner of Washington, for example. We ask the pub-l ic to submit landscapes from al l over Washington and we share them w ith the state by posting them on the blog and making them avai lable v ia a Facebook application.

Times are changing and the way government is able to reach out to the public has been strengthened thank s to the Internet. We want to keep up w ith emerging technolog y, to deliver ser v ices to Washingto-nians in the way they are accustomed to gett ing information.

That ’s why it ’s so impor tant for us to invest in new platforms of com-municating – we want to make sure people who do most of their busi-ness and dai ly activ it ies online can easi ly integrate our ser v ices and news into their routine.

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Wa s h i n g t o n O f f i c e o f S e c r e ta r y o f S tat e ’s o f f i c i a l b l o g

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At the Secretar y of State’s Off ice, we believe that you have to give social media impor tance for it to work – and we have to keep the public f irst for it to matter.

• Create goals and set ex pectations • Make sure management is suppor tive• Contact legal — make sure they ’re in the loop• Prepare blog post guidelines• Create comments polic y and disclaimers• Sor t out comments response guidelines• A ssign staf fers to task s according to strengths• Spel l out the workf low for ever yone involved• Have “rainy day ” posts ready for slow days• Regular check-ins on content• Monthly repor ts on traf f ic and ef fectiveness

• Visibi l ity matters — make it a pr ior ity• Blogging is for immediate news, not leftovers• Have regular team brainstorming meetings• Relate current news or topics to your agenc y• Use creative takes on the same old news• Ar t is wor th a thousand words• Keep writ ing shor t and t ight• Designate one “editor ” who ensures consistenc y • Be social w ith other bloggers by l inking and referencing

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Wa s h i n g t o n O f f i c e o f S e c r e ta r y o f S tat e ’s o f f i c i a l b l o g

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For more information about our agenc y blog and social media program and policies, please contact :Christ ina Sider ius csider ius@secstate.wa.gov(360) 902-4176.